Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and AICC General Secretary in charge of party affairs in Karnataka M M Jacob arrived in Bangalore on Wednesday to campaign for the UPA candidate in the Presidential election Pratibha Patil.

Speaking to reporters he said communalism had begun to raise its ugly head in the State and it was the duty of the Congress to fight it.

During his stay he would talk to like-minded people to garner support for Ms Patil. ''Congress is recognising the power of women. The party is making a novel attempt to make a woman the president of the country. It is important that we empower women,'' he added.

Asked whether he would talk to the JD (S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, he remarked “it is too early to comment”.
He said the question of exploring the possibility of forming a coalition government in the State did not arise at the moment.

Prathibha coming
KPCC President Mallikarjun Kharge said Ms Patil would arrive here on Friday to seek support of various parties including Congress.

During her visit, Ms Patil also likely to meet some independent and rebel JD (S) legislators, who were identified with former deputy chief minister Siddaramaiah to seek their votes.

Asked whether they had appraised Mr Jacob of the happenings in the state unit of the party, Mr Kharge replied in the negative.

Mr Kharge made a scathing attack on the chief minister for describing some of the Congress leaders as wolves.
“We are prepared for a CBI inquiry. In our 35 year political career we have conducted ourselves in a dignified way and never behaved like dallals of some industrialists,” he added.